If you’re looking for a way to encourage your child to keep reading all summer long, consider signing him up for the Scholastic Summer Challenge.
Registration for the program began May 6, but there’s still plenty of time to join the fun.
After you register your child, you can keep track of the minutes he reads each day. If he meets the weekly total, he can unlock a special badge and have a chance to win virtual rewards. Your child can also enter to win different prize packs all summer long. The Round 1 prize pack includes an autographed copy of The False Prince and an autographed copy of The Runaway King.
Your child has an option to tie his minutes to a school total. The school with the most minutes read can win a visit from Dav Pilkey, the author of the Captain Underpants series.
I didn’t bother doing this because my son’s school only has about 20 kids per grade and is too small to ever have a chance of winning a contest like this. But, if your child goes to a larger school that is encouraging all of the students to participate, it’s worth taking the time to complete this step of the registration process.
The Scholastic site is keeping track of all the minutes logged under the program to challenge kids to read around the world. As the total increases, they unlock different landmarks like Niagara Falls, the Eiffel Tower, and the Taj Mahal. The site also has fun videos and facts from Word Girl, the program’s “Summer Reading Ambassador.”
If your child likes ebooks, there is an option to send an ecard to your email address that lets you download one free Storia ebook. There are different titles to choose from for every age group.
This will be the first year I’ve signed my son up for the Scholastic Summer Challenge, but I like that it’s something we can do in addition to our public library’s reading activities.
Photo credit: Scholastic Summer Challenge
